1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a table with an integral damping element.
2. Background Information
There have been developed honeycomb metal tables that can be used for various industrial applications. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,006 issued to Terry et al. discloses a metal honeycomb table that has a plurality of threaded apertures in the top surface of the table. The threaded apertures allow optical components to be attached to the table. Such a table is commonly referred to as an optical test bench.
Optical test benches are used to perform tests and experiments for optical systems. The tables are typically placed on the floor of a laboratory facility. Most commercial building structures have a natural tremor or vibration. The vibration may be transferred to the table and create an undesirable movement of the optical system.
There are optical tables that have some type of damping device or element to attenuate vibration introduced to the table. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,302 issued to Heide, discloses a honeycomb table that has a tuned damper integrated into the table. The tuned damper includes a manually adjustable spring. The deflection of the spring can be varied to change the frequency range attenuated by the damper. Tuned dampers provide attenuation over a narrow band of vibration frequency. The spring must be manually adjusted to tune the table to a desired frequency range. The adjustment process typically requires a trained operator to vary the spring length and tune the table to a desired frequency range.
There are also individual tables with integral passive damping elements that provide broadband damping. Although the broadband dampers cover a broad frequency spectrum, the amount of attenuation is less than a tuned damper. It would be desirable to provide a table damper that can provide a desired amount of attenuation over a relatively broad frequency spectrum.
One embodiment of the present invention is a table that has a damper attached to a first table element and a second table element. The damper may have a first plate only attached to the first table element and a second plate only attached to the second table element. A damping layer may be attached to the first and second plates. The damping layer may be displaced in a shear direction when the table moves in a flexural manner.